News and other tidbits that Chad Cloman finds interesting enough to share
Aside from confusion between “their,” “they’re,” and “there,” the apostrophe is one of the most misused grammar/spelling items on the internet (and elsewhere). We even have problems with it here at Chad’s News, despite all those English courses taken in high school and college. The linked article explains the correct usage in a simple and straightforward way.
Link: http://apostrophe.me/
(via Neatorama)
For the United States, tonight is when we “fall back” one hour and end daylight saving time.
The linked article has the best days and times to buy 14 different products.
Firefox 3 made some improvements by moving the browser history, bookmarks, etc. to an SQLite database. It also changed the default settings to keep history information for a longer period of time. Regular use causes the the places.sqlite file to get fragmented and bloated, and slows down Firefox’s performance.
This problem is easily solved by periodically “vacuuming” the places.sqlite database. You can do this manually via the directions in this Lifehacker article. Alternatively, the Firefox extension in the linked article provides a status bar icon to do the job, and also allows you to set up automatic defragmentation. Note that the extension only works for Firefox 3.5 or later.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/…
(via Lifehacker)
There are many ways to start a fire when you’re lost in the wilderness, but this one is pretty innovative. Use a chocolate bar to polish the bottom of a soda can, then use the can to focus sunlight on your tinder. This generates sufficient heat to light the tinder and start the fire. I’m thinking toothpaste might also work in place of the chocolate, should you happen to have some.
The Amazon Kindle is picky about which eBook formats it accepts. So what do you do with an eBook in an unsupported format? The linked article tells how to convert it. The article also lists a couple non-Amazon sources of Kindle-compatible eBooks, and explains how to prevent Amazon from deleting books retroactively.
Link: http://consumerist.com/…
If you have a Google login and forget your password, you can have the reset code sent to your cell phone as a text message. Of course, you have to configure it with your cell phone number beforehand.
Link: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/…
(via Lifehacker)
The linked article has a printable accident checklist (PDF) that should probably be in everyone’s glove box. I’ve learned to call the police, even if it doesn’t seem like much damage, because car body repair is hideously expensive. In my first significant accident, back in the early ’90s, I had to pay a $500 deductible because I didn’t get enough information to track down the other person (who was at fault) or his insurance company.
Link: http://www.seriousaccidents.com/…
(via Lifehacker)
SharpKeys is a Windows utility that lets you change the meaning of keys on your keyboard. You can map a key to be something else, or disable it entirely. I have an old M-series keyboard without a Windows key, and this is a way to create one. Also, don’t even get me started on Caps Lock. I use the Tab key quite often, and my left pinky has an annoying habit of hitting Caps Lock instead. In the past I would physically remove Caps Lock from the keyboard, but SharpKeys gives me the ability to disable it (or even make it into another Tab).
Link: http://www.howtogeek.com/…
(via Lifehacker)
Update: Parrish notes that KeyTweak does the same thing without requiring .NET.
Just a reminder that this weekend is Daylight Saving Time in the US. Turn your clocks forward one hour on Saturday night/Sunday morning.
When I call tech/customer support, it’s usually for an issue not covered by the automated phone system or the company’s website. So I need to speak with a human being. One strategy to skip past the automated system is to repeatedly press zero, but that doesn’t always work. Which is where the gethuman database comes in—it has specific instructions on how to reach a human being at a variety of companies.
Link: http://www.gethuman.com/
January was a good month for class action lawsuit settlements. Some of them have very broad participation requirements.
